Cavs rough up Celtics in Game 1

LeBron James put a damper on Boston's celebratory week Wednesday night as Cleveland rolled to a 117-104 win in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals.

Jim Fenton The Enterprise @JFenton_ent

BOSTON – They were riding high after a double dose of good news on consecutive nights at the start of this week.

First, the Celtics won an emotional Game 7 over the Washington Wizards on Monday to reach the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2012.

Then, roughly 22 hours later, the Celtics won the NBA Draft Lottery for the first time on Tuesday, securing the first pick in next month’s selection process.

The good times, however, came crashing to a halt Wednesday night.

The defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, with LeBron James and Kevin Love leading the way, opened the conference finals by putting on a clinic and bringing the Celtics back to earth.

They led from start to finish and were never challenged in rolling to a 117-104 victory to move within three wins of a third straight trip to the NBA Finals.

Game 2 is Friday night, and the Celtics will need some major improvements to even things up against a team that is 9-0 in the postseason.

The Celtics, playing with one day in between series, seemed flat at the start and the Cavaliers, who had been off nine days, came out flying and took the capacity crowd out of the game.

“I think their energy level was by far higher than ours,’’ said Jae Crowder, who had 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists. “They set the tone at both ends of the court to start the game. We’ve got to come out and play a little harder and a little more aggressive to start the game.’’

The Celtics were in a 13-point hole with less than eight minutes gone in the opening quarter, and the Cavaliers never let the lead dip below double figures in the final 36:53.

They were up by as many as 26 points in the second quarter and 28 in the third quarter, never letting the Celtics make a bid to come back.

James was magnificent as usual with 38 points on 14 for 24 shooting, nine rebounds and seven assists while Love scored 18 of his 32 points in the third quarter, making six 3-pointers and grabbing 12 rebounds.

“You’ve got to tip your hat to them,’’ said Isaiah Thomas, who made only 7 of 19 shots and had 17 points to go with 10 assists. “They were the better team. They had more energy. It was obvious. They hit us first and they were the more energized team tonight.

“With a team like that, the defending champions, you can’t let them hit first and we have to make sure it’s different in Game 2.’’

The Celtics missed 14 of their first 15 shots from 3-point range in the first half and were shooting just 36 percent overall in the opening 24 minutes.

The Cavaliers had an answer for everything the Celtics tried to do.

And James got the Cavs offense flowing early while Tristan Thompson (20 points, 7 for 7, nine rebounds) was there inside to provide help.

“Against these guys,’’ said coach Brad Stevens, “you’ve got to be really good because it seems like every time you settle for a tough shot or you turn the ball over, they turn it into points on the other end.